protecting baby's finish

[loboblanca]

Hi everybody,

 

I just joined the forum; didn't know it was here and I've been checking out the Gibson website for a while. Nice to have a place to talk to other Gibson lovers.

 

I've picked guitars up and put them down for a long long time, but something happened a year ago and it stuck and I'm wondering why I didn't stick with it a long time ago. Answer, the right guitar, I guess. All the guitars I had tried to learn on in the past were cheap, and I never knew how important a good guitar was for a beginner. I started playing a Strat knockoff a year ago and got hooked, then a friend of mine was selling his Les Paul and I couldn't turn it down since the price was insanely low; I stole it. I swear the guitar almost plays itself.

 

Anyway, my Paul was originally a banana yellow out of the factory. It got refinished in black a few years later and thats how I bought it. The finish is kind of old, and I'm noticing some spider-web like cracks showing up in it. In fact, there have been a couple chips showing up since I've been playing it. Does anyone know of a product I can put on it to protect the finish, and hopefully prevent further chipping? I emailed the folks in Nashville and they said, without looking at it, that it would cost around 1400 bucks to refinish it, which was cheaper than I had expected. But until I get some cash I can't afford to have them do that, and would actually like to keep it in its 'older' state.

 

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance for any help or advice you might be able to give me.

[jesse92]

Is It A Vintage Les PAul?? If So The Finish Naturally Checks As Guitar Ages, Use A Restoration Kit

www.musiciansfriend.com

 

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[Raptor]

Lobo, your guitar's finish is checking and that is a pretty normal occurence with guitars as they age. If you don't want it to happen, then you have to put the guitar in it's case, and leave it in a humidty controlled location and never play it. Sorry, but that is about the best way to prevent it. To fix a guitar that has checking the guitar has to be refinished, you can't just drop fill in all the cracks and chips. You could choose to have it refinished with a polyurethane finish which is a more durable plastic finish. It can however rob the guitar of some tone, and it would not be the same finish as Gibson uses (nitrocellulose). The guitar was already refinished once, so any possible future value has already been reduced, so you won't lose much more refinishing it again, but doing so will not ensure that the guitar will not check again in future.

I suggest you play the guitar and enjoy it as is. The dings and checks show that the guitar is loved and well played. The biggest cause of checking is a rapid change in temperature, i.e. having it out in the hot sun for hours and then bringing it into an AC cooled house, or having it out in the cold and taking it into a warm house and taking it out of the case right away. You should always let the guitar adjust to it's new climate in it's case. This can mean leaving it in the case for a couple of hours if the temperature change is drastic.

[loboblanca]

Thanks you guys.

 

I agree, Raptor, regarding the future value. I'm never going to sell it so 1) refinishing reducing value isn't an issue, but most importantly 2) having chips and checking doesn't bother me as far as future value, either. I just want to protect her as best I can.

 

Thanks for what you said about just playing it and enjoying it and not worrying too much about the chips and checking. I had a feeling that was the case, and the poor girl spent too much time not being played for so many years, she deserves to be played every day. I bought it to play it, and I like what you said about her looking well loved and well played. She sounds awesome, especially between the 5th and 10th frets. I crap my pants sometimes, in amazement, that what is coming out of the amp, as a result of my fingers, sounds so gorgeous, and its is 100% due to my guitar. I suck, but my guitar definitely does not suck; she makes up a lot for my lack of ability.

 

Thanks again, both you guys.

[Raptor]

Glad to hear you enjoy the guitar so much. Sounds like you got a good one with lots of mojo. Trying to keep a pristine finish is a constant battle, and almost impossible to do if you play the guitar a lot. No matter what, the finish will age and show signs of wear. Someday you will look back at each mark and remember something. Whether it is the paint chip you got when the hot groupy hugged you and knocked the guitar against your amp, or the finish crack that was caused by the hot lights at your first big gig. Some might be sad, but most will be happy memories and each mark will be a badge of the journey that you and that guitar have taken.